Spicy Puffed Rice - a Gluten Free Healthy Snack

Being living in a tropical country, its very common to expect unpredictable climate. Yes especially this year, the climate is really horrible. Hot sunny in the morning whereas in the night its pretty chill & cold. But today in the evening, despite of hot sun, suddenly started pouring heavy rain. I being chat lover, (Infact craving for chat items from last sunday since we had yummy delicious dinner in Sankaranthi Restaurant) was very tempted to eat something spicy& tangy. Added to that my MIL send me some green mangoes from her garden.I am bit tempted and thinking what recipe I can prepare in Jiffy.I called my friend and she suggested this quick chat recipe. Yes its the famous " Kaara pori". I felt very refreshed as we shared some old memories of beach chatting with our school friends. Hmm.. Its very common in Indian beaches selling Kaara pori aka Masala pori, whereas here am totally missing this pori & my friends. With all nice memories wholeheartedly, I prepared this recipe. I dedicate to all my friends who get remind of their beach chatting. Lets go for this quick recipe.

Step 1: Information About the Ingredients Needed :

Puffed rice :

Puffed rice is a type of puffed grain made from rice; usually made by heating rice kernels under high pressure in the presence of steam, though the method of manufacture varies widely.
Puffed rice is used in breakfast cereals, snack foods like puffed rice cakes, and is also a popular street food in some parts of the world. It is an ingredient of bhel puri, a popular Indian chaat (snack). It is also used in temples and gurdwaras as prasad (an offering).
Pori is offered to Hindu gods and goddesses in all poojas in the South Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Pilgrims of Sabarimala often pack puffed rice in their Irumudikettu along with jaggery meant to be offered to Lord Ayyappan. Tamil saints say that Lord Ganesh loves pori, so it should be offered to him without fail. Pori (Puffed Rice) has been mentioned in various Tamil literatures as an offering to Hindu deities. Offerings of pori and jaggery made to Vinayagar (Lord Ganesh) are mentioned in the Tiruppugazh, a 15th-century anthology of Tamil religious songs, written by Tamil poet Arunagirinathar. Pori production has been the main family business for centuries among many villages around Namakkal, Avinashi in Tamil Nadu. In Telangana, as a snack typically given to children, puffed rice or bongulu is made into ball with jaggery syrup or bellam pakam. Jhal Mudhi (Puffed rice) of Baripada Mudhi is a staple food of people of Odisha.[1] northern Odisha, especially Baripada, Mayurbhanj district is significant for the production of Mudhi, where throughout the state it is eaten in breakfast.[2] NGOs have taken forward initiatives to engage village women of northern Odisha for producing Mudhi.[3]Intellectual property rights (IPR) Cell of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) has decided to bring out Geographical indication (GI)registration of Mudhi.[4] A traditional puffed rice called muri (sometimes spelled mouri) is made by heating rice in a sand-filled oven. Muri is to rice as popcorn is to corn. The processing involved makes rice less perishable. Mandakki is a staple food in many parts of Rayalaseema, North Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal andBangladesh. Jhalmuri or Masalemandakki is a very popular preparation made from mandakki (muri).[5] Puffed rice is referred to as mur-mure in some parts of India. In many parts of Rayalaseema, North Karnataka uggani along with Menasinakaayi Bajji (Chilli Bajjis) are popular. In Karnataka, Mandakki Usli made from mandakki is also famous. In Mithila area, "murhi" is had with "kachari"-fried potato/onion chops, fried fish or with mutton curry. "Jhal-murhi" and "Murhi-Bhuja" are also very popular snacks in this area. In Madhya Pradesh, this is referred to as Parmal and its very often eaten with Sev as a snack and also used in Bhel. (Source : Wikepedia).

Chat Masala :

This spice powder is a combination of corriander seeds powder, cumin powder, cloves, cinnamon & black pepper powder. My mom used to prepare this powder and keep it at fridge.So whenever we want we can use. But here I used ready made mix. I showed the picture that I used.

Step 2: Ingredients :

Puffed rice (Pori) - 1 cup
Peanuts - 1/4 cup Onion- 1/2 cup (Finely chopped)
Tomato - 1 (Finely chopped)
Garlic - 2 cloves (Crushed)
Carrot - 1/4 cup (Finely chopped)
More milagai (Buttermilk chilli) - 1
Green mango- 1/4 cup (Finely chopped)
Lemon - 1
Red chilli powder - 1/4tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chat Masala - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Oil - 1 tbsp
salt to taste

I enclosed the picture of puffed rice for reference. For more information about puffed rice please check the following link :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffed_rice

Step 3: Method :

In a pan, add oil followed by adding peanuts. Fry till it become crispy.(Be careful not to burn it). Keep it aside.
In the same pan, add crushed garlic & curry leaves. Saute it for 2 mins.
Now add more milagai, turmeric powder & red chilli powder and mix it well. Keep this masala aside.

In the mean time, get ready with onions, mango, carrot & tomato. Chop them finely.

In a wide bowl, mix chopped onion, mango, carrot & tomato. Add the fried masala (Mentioned above) and roasted peanuts. Mix it well.

Now add puffed rice or pori and mix it gently. Add chat masala and desired salt. Finally squeeze lemon to the mixture and serve. The amount of lemon should balance the chilli and chat masala taste. Check for salt, spicy and tangy. The perfect flavour of crushed garlic together with richness of masalas will take you to beach virtually. Enjoy spicy masala pori.

Note : Squeeze lemon only before serving. Else pori becomes gooey. The masala powders can be add more or less depends on taste.